Next-Hop Tracking Adjacency List for Fast Network Re-routing
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing communication network technologies face inefficiencies in determining and storing next-hop switches for multiple alternate routes, leading to computational overhead and reduced performance in high-availability routing scenarios.
Innovation Solution
The implementation of a Next-Hop Tracking (NHT) system that maintains an adjacency list in the forwarding data structure, based on topology information and next-hop tracking, to efficiently store and select next-hop switches for network prefixes.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If multiple alternate routes are determined and stored in the forwarding data structure, then high-availability routing is improved, but computational overhead and processing time increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent pre-calculates and stores multiple alternate routes in the forwarding data structure before failures occur. The forwarding entry includes a primary route and multiple alternate routes with associated next-hop switches, so that when a failure occurs, the switch can immediately switch to a pre-computed alternate route without performing complex real-time calculations, thus reducing computational overhead during failure events.
Solution Approach 2:
The routing information is segmented into primary route information and multiple alternate route information, each with its own next-hop switch identification. This segmentation allows the forwarding data structure to efficiently organize and access different route options without processing the entire routing table during normal operation, reducing computational overhead while maintaining high-availability capabilities.
2Reliability
If multiple next-hop switches are stored for each network prefix, then route failure recovery is improved, but forwarding data structure complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges multiple route information (primary route and alternate routes) into a single forwarding data structure entry for each network prefix. The forwarding entry contains identifiers for multiple next-hop switches corresponding to different routes, consolidating what would otherwise require separate data structures. This merging approach maintains comprehensive route failure recovery capabilities while reducing overall data structure complexity and improving access efficiency.
3Measurement precision
If traditional routing processes determine next-hop switches for multiple prefixes, then routing accuracy is maintained, but processing speed decreases
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary routing calculations to determine accurate next-hop switches for primary and alternate routes before failures occur. These pre-calculated next-hop switch identifiers are stored in the forwarding data structure, so that during actual packet forwarding, the switch can directly use these pre-determined identifiers without performing time-consuming routing lookups, thus maintaining routing accuracy while dramatically improving processing speed.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent creates simplified copies of routing information in the forwarding data structure, storing next-hop switch identifiers that are derived from the complete routing process but optimized for fast forwarding. These copied identifiers contain the essential routing decision information needed for accurate packet forwarding without requiring access to the full routing table, thus maintaining routing accuracy while enabling high-speed processing.
Data Source
AI summary
A system for efficiently determining a set of next-hop switches from a switch is provided. During operation, the system can determine the plurality of next-hop switches for an Internet Protocol (IP) address prefix. The system can then store, in an entry of a forwarding data structure of the switch, a list of identifying information indicating the plurality of next-hop switches corresponding to the IP address prefix. The identifying information for the plurality of next-hop switches can be stored in the list in an order of preference for forwarding traffic matching the IP address prefix. Upon receiving a packet with a destination IP address matching the IP address prefix, the system can select the entry from the forwarding data structure for determining a next-hop switch for forwarding the packet. The system can then determine the next-hop switch for the packet from the entry based on the order of preference.